Research
The Language Center’s mission involves “promoting research on educational technology, second language acquisition, and related disciplines.” As such, Language Center facilities and staff are available to support and contribute to research projects investigating all areas related to second language acquisition, including applications of technology.
Research Projects
Research may involve a number of initiatives underway in the Language Center, including, but not limited to:
- Remote and online language teaching and learning
- Technology use for language instruction at a distance through BigTen Courseshare
- Technology-mediated conferencing for language and culture exchange through the TandemPlus program
- Proficiency development through data collected as part of the PACE project
- Development of Advanced-level proficiency in traditional upper-division content courses
- Curriculum design and delivery
Engagement

Co-hosted by the Language Center and CARLA, the group seeks to unite researchers in applied linguistics (language pedagogy, second language acquisition, and sociolinguistics) in the context of a monthly hands-on research group workshop. Meetings are open to graduate students, instructors, faculty and staff in all units. They are a safe and supportive space for researchers to workshop articles and practice for upcoming presentations. A light and social lunch is provided at all meetings. Please contact Amanda Dalola at [email protected] to request to join the group.

The Language Center is available to consult on various aspects of your research project, including design and implementation, conference proposals and presentations, and publishing. We will direct you to the people and resources that can best help you with your research project based on the nature of your project.

The Proficiency Assessment for Curricular Enhancement (PACE) project was designed to maintain a culture of assessment, self-assessment, and curricular improvement in the second language learning process. Funded by a grant from The Language Flagship, the PACE project at the University of Minnesota began on August 1, 2014, to assess the language proficiency of students of Arabic, French, German, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Data collection and funded curriculum projects were completed in 2019.